Town to intervene in Milford Water Company rate increase

MILFORD - The Board of Selectmen will officially intervene in the Milford Water Company’s proposed rate increase, which must be approved by the state.

The Milford Water Company isn’t expected to file for a rate increase until June 15, but selectmen have opted to intervene, which gives Town Counsel Gerry Moody the authority to file legal briefs and challenge and request information.

The company hasn’t finalized a rate increase, but preliminary figures have it at a 20 percent hike, according to Manager David Condrey.

Selectman Mike Walsh - who cautioned against a rush to purchase the company during his campaign for the seat - criticized the company at Monday’s meeting during a discussion about the company’s proposal.

“I don’t understand how you can apply for a rate increase when you can’t supply the product,” he said, a reference to the water restriction that currently only allows residents to use outdoor hoses an odd/even basis between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Automatic irrigation systems may only be used one day a week between the same hours.

The restrictions - including mandates from the state Department of Environmental Protection - remain in place despite the absence of a drought in the state and a water reservoir that Condrey said is 96 percent full as of Monday.

According to information on the company’s website, it’s the most water in Echo Lake - the town’s main source of water - at the end of May since 2009 when the lake was 97.2 percent full.

Condrey said the water restriction is heavily dependent on rainfall and the weather.

Echo Lake started the calendar year at less than 57 percent full for five straight years since 2012 and Condrey said he wants to continue to be conservative with the town’s water, but infrastructure issues have also hindered the availability of water, he said.

Two well fields are currently inactive, placing the burden almost entirely upon Echo Lake, and to a lesser extent, the Charles River

The well at Clark’s Island is down for annual cleaning and the Godrey Brook well is offline due to what Condrey called capacity issues.

“It’s dropped off a little over the last several years,” he said. “We’re doing an investigation to see what we can do to bring it back to full capacity.”

If the wells had been active, Condrey said the company may have lessened the water restriction even more.

“I think the way we’ve got it structured right now, we’re pretty much allowing people to do just about everything,” he said. “We’re just asking them not to do it in the middle of a hot day and not every day.”

The rate hike request comes as the town and company are wrapping up negotiations on a potential $63 million purchase.

The town has intervened in two recent DPU cases on the matter, including in 2012 when the company sought an 83 percent rate increase. Town officials, in a brief, criticized the company for poor management, and the E. coli outbreak in 2008 that forced the company to build a $20 million treatment facility.

The town in 2012 called the proposed increase “excessive” and said the “longstanding and incredibly deep performance problems” of the company must be taken into consideration.

That increase was eventually brought down to a 52 percent hike.

Before that, the company approved a 33 percent rate increase in 2011.

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.